Connecting python program to mysql safely

Question

I want to connect to MySQL from my python program using MySQLdb.

I am worried because I need to put username and password in the .py in order to connect to MySQL database, as well into inno setup.

Couldn't anybody find the user name and password and get access to my database? How do I solve this problem? Do I make a sql user with limited access somehow? (I am new to html/css/MySQL).

ask for the user to input the user and pass instead of hard coding it. — Serdalis
– Serdalis, Commented Mar 13, 2013 at 1:27
Make the file readable only by a certain user. If someone has root access to your computer, they're going to get your passwords. — Blender
– Blender, Commented Mar 13, 2013 at 1:32

unutbu · Accepted Answer · 2013-03-13 08:07:38Z

3

First, make sure your MySQL user/password is different than your username and password.

Next, make a file called, say, config.py and place it in a directory in your PYTHONPATH:

USER='zzzzzzzz'
PASS='xxxxxxxx'
HOST='yyyyyyyy'
MYDB='wwwwwwww'

Change the permissions on the file so only you (and root) can read it. For example, on Unix:

chmod 0600 /path/to/config.py

Now, when you write a script using MySQLdb you'd write

import config
connection = MySQLdb.connect(
    host = config.HOST, user = config.USER,
    passwd = config.PASS, db = config.MYDB)

So your username and password will not appear in any of your scripts.

You could also put config.py in an encrypted directory, and/or on a USB thumb drive, so the file is only accessible when the drive is mounted.

edited Mar 13, 2013 at 8:07

answered Mar 13, 2013 at 1:41

unutbu

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